The Cardinals ended up winning the Paul Goldschmidt sweepstakes, and will have a big power bat in the middle of their lineup. Adding this to a lineup that already has Matt Carpenter, Jose Martinez, and Marcell Ozuna is going to be a dangerous one for left-handed pitching and even right-handers to get through. Carpenter has turned himself into a strong power bat from the leadoff spot, and the Cardinals might have made themselves into more of a power team. Yadier Molina is still chugging long at his age, and adding Harrison Bader and Paul DeJong both make this a deep lineup, and Bader will now jump into a full-time role which he has deserved. You might see Jedd Gyorko play second base against lefties in place of Kolten Wong, so it is a good platoon to have at second base.
2019 St. Louis Cardinals Pitching Analysis
The Cardinals might not get enough recognition for their pitching staff, but they should. They don’t have the true top ten ace in their rotation, but a few above average arms in a good pitchers park has them on our map. They are an incredibly deep staff, and even losing Luke Weaver in the trade with Arizona for Paul Goldschmidt, they are not going to lose much when all is said and done. Weaver was heading for a league average right-hander, so parting ways wasn’t a bad idea at all, especially when you acquired an all-star first baseman to slug away in the middle of the order. Carlos Martinez has been the ace of this staff for a few seasons now, but battled injuries in 2018. Looking at a full year, Martinez has loads of talent to put up monster numbers. He has above average strikeout stuff, and his ERA stays fairly consistent. He has a plus fastball, which sets up his above average off-speed stuff. A healthy year will jump Martinez back up into the top 25 for starting arms. Miles Mikolas was someone who came over from playing overseas, and adjusted his game in a major way. He pitched 200 innings, and had a 2.83 ERA. He has pinpoint control, and can strike out some of the weaker teams. Mikolas adds to a very good rotation, especially as a number two.
Jack Flaherty has a major fastball, and had 182 strikeouts in 151 innings last season. Flaherty is an up and coming pitcher on a league spectrum, but has blossomed into a top of the rotation arm in St. Louis. He is expected to take a major step forward in 2019, and if he can stay healthy, 200+ strikeouts are not out of the question for him. Michael Wacha is an average right-hander who makes for a pretty good fourth spot starter in the rotation. John Gant and Adam Wainwright will draw the rest of the starts, and both are struggling right-handers. Gant has an issue with left-handed hitters, and Wainwright is trying to cope with being an older arm in a game that has really changed. The Cardinals can try and bury this problem with the rest of the rotation being good, but also the offense can take some of the pressure off of this starting staff.
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